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| BLACK MAGIC: BLACKLEY PITCHES ANOTHER GEM |
| Knott, Cervenak Help Blackley Win Third Straight Decision |
| Jon Knott’s grand slam put the IronPigs on top and Mike Cervenak’s two-run homer put the game away as Lehigh Valley buried the Charlotte Knights in the opener of their eight-game North Carolina road trip, 8-2 from Knights’ Stadium. Travis Blackley (3-3) pitched a season-high 8.0 innings and turned in his fourth consecutive quality start of the season to help the IronPigs snap a four-game losing skid. The Australian lefthander allowed just two runs on five hits and struck out six to win his third straight decision and Lehigh Valley improved to 7-0 since Blackley returned from the D.L. (strained right groin). |
| Cervenak gave the Pigs an early 1-0 lead in the 1st when he lined a single to right off Knights’ starter Jack Egbert (2-6) with Chris Snelling on second for his first RBI in his last five games. Charlotte tied the game however, in the 2nd when Fernando Cortez softly grounded out to second with the bases loaded and Brad Eldred trotted home to make it a 1-1 game. |
| In the 3rd, it was the IronPigs’ turn to load the bases and Knott made sure Lehigh Valley would put more than a single run on the board. Following back-to-back singles by Brandon Watson and Cervenak and a walk drawn by T.J. Bohn, Knott belted the first grand slam in IronPigs’ franchise history over the leftfield wall for his 5th homer of the season. Lehigh Valley entered the game hitting just .246 with the sacks packed this season and had not homered in 57 at-bats with the bases loaded. |
| Charlotte’s Jason Bourgeois added a solo-homer to left in the bottom of the 3rd to cut the IronPigs’ lead to 5-2 but would do no further damage against Blackley who went on to retire 13 of the next 14 batters he faced following the home run. |
| The game was put completely out of reach in the top of the 5th when Cervenak served a two-run jack over the wall in right-center for his first home run since May 23 when he went yard against the Knights Tomo Ohka from Coca-Cola Park. |
| The IronPigs had a chance to hit an unprecedented second grand slam of the ballgame when they loaded the bases in the 9th against Jason Childers, the brother of IronPigs closer Matt Childers. Lehigh Valley had to settle for just one run this time however, as Brandon Watson’s sacrifice fly was all Childers would allow in the inning making it an 8-2 IronPigs’ advantage. |
| Rather than risk an injury in a game well in hand for the visitors, Manager Dave Huppert elected to bring in left-handed reliever R.J. Swindle to finish the game for Blackley in the bottom of the 9th. Swindle would not disappoint as he struck out the side to put an exclamation point on a dominant performance by the IronPigs on Thursday night. The win gave Lehigh Valley a 3-2 advantage over Charlotte and they can clinch the season-series with two more victories this weekend against the Knights. |
| Friday night’s battle with Charlotte will commence at 7:15 p.m. from Knights' Stadium just outside of Charlotte N.C. and you can hear all the action on the IronPigs Radio Network. “The Voice of the IronPigs” Matt Provence has the call beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the AT&T pre-game show on flagship station 90.3 FM WXLV, 95.1 HD-2 WZZO, “The Digital Home of the IronPigs,” and 89.1 FM WYBF The Burn. |
| The IronPigs return from an eight-game road trip on Friday, June 27, to open a three-game series against the Syracuse Chiefs at Coca-Cola Park. Single-game tickets and mini-plan packages for the IronPigs inaugural season, presented by Capital BlueCross, are on sale now and can be purchased at the Coca-Cola Park Ticket Office, online at www.ironpigsbaseball.com or by calling (610) 841-PIGS. |
